The blessings of Life : Blog # 273

The blessings of Life

If you must hold a grudge against your creators, be it the ones who live with you or the ones in the heavens, it should be for not giving you a sibling. I cannot even begin to explain how much of a loss it is to not have a brother or sister in your life. In the earlier years of one’s life, one might feel thankful for not having a sibling for the little pleasures of not having to share the things one owns. Later on in life, one does realize how much of a blessing it is to have someone to grow up with.

I for one, cannot imagine growing up without my sister. I still remember going to hospital and seeing her for the first time along my mother’s side. At that instant, I knew that here is someone I am going to give my life for. May be that visual left so much of an impact on my little mind back then that I never grew out of it. This might be the reason why inspite of all the achievements she has had in her life, my first instinct is to protect her.

I am sure all of us who have a younger sibling in life would have gone through that phase in life where we become more of a parent to the little one than our own father and mother. Somehow we feel that we have more say and sway over her/his decisions than the parents themselves. And many a time, the parents graciously let us be too.

The other day, I was having a conversation with my colleague Risha who said that she is the youngest one in the family. I was telling her how much of a pampered life she would have had and she agreed saying it is completely an enviable position to be in free of responsibilities and how it lets one be as carefree as one wants to be. Although I don’t have an elder sibling, I have cousins who have always showered me with love and affection just the way an elder sibling would. I do enjoy the perks of being a younger one and seek their support to push my cause within the family, be it a small one or a significant one at that.   

Many younger ones have horror stories of being bossed around by the elder siblings. But all of them say that there comes a point in life where the elder brother or sister becomes their strongest support system. Some of my friends from college used to say that they ask for pocket money from their elder siblings quite shamelessly and devoid of any guilt. They couldn’t do quite the same with parents though.

The best part of having a sibling is that you get to share memories with them. Having gone through similar experiences and identical circumstances while growing up, they understand you in a way not many other beings are capable of. We all know that there comes a point in life where we become parents to those who brought us up. There also comes a time when your little brother or sister becomes the shoulder that the entire family leans on.

Arun Babu

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